China has quickly become one of the major hotbeds for religious persecution in the world. Not only have they attacked people of faith throughout their country, but they also have exported these ideas throughout the globe, setting the stage for increasingly religious persecution around the globe.
Recently, China has instituted numerous regulations prohibiting religious content online, including teaching Bible lessons to children and forming youth groups. Based on prior laws and regulations, the articles released by the National Religious Affairs Administration significantly restrict faith content online, religious rights magazine Bitter Winter reported. “This is not the first time China has tightened its grip on religious life, but it may be one of the most technologically invasive,” the group reported. “In the age of digital ministry, where sermons stream and prayers ping, the regulation feels like a deliberate attempt to unplug the sacred from the social.”
In a translation of the regulations by Bitter Winter, Article 5 states that clergy can only preach or provide religious education and online training through registered religious organizations’ websites, applications, forums and platforms that have an “Internet Religious Information Services License.” “Personal social media accounts, livestreams, WeChat groups or informal forums are strictly off-limits for religious instruction,” the online magazine noted. “Self-promotion is banned, and clergy may not use religious identity to attract followers or traffic. Foreign entanglements are forbidden: no supporting or participating in ‘overseas religious infiltration.’”
Article 10 also forbids clergy from spreading religious ideas to minors or “inducing beliefs” in them through the internet and bans organizing children to participate in religious education, training and camps. “Clergy may not evangelize to underage users or organize youth religious camps or training,” Bitter Winter reported. “Commercialization is a no-go. There should be no fundraising, selling religious merchandise, or monetizing religious activities online. AI evangelism is also off the table. Clergy may not use generative AI to produce or disseminate religious content.”
Violators may face administrative penalties, including suspension of religious credentials, closure of online accounts and criminal investigation, Bitter Winter noted. “Platforms hosting non-compliant content may be ordered to restrict, warn or shut down offending accounts,” it stated.
While Americans and those in the West can think that this is only a communist issue, the increase in the popularity of these types of ideas in the West has also increased greatly, with several Western nations also having major crackdowns on free speech, especially religious speech, with social media and other forms of mass communication. China might be the instigator in a lot of these areas in religious persecution, but they are certainly not the only nation looking to continue these ways.
Biblical Connections: The Book of Revelation describes a time when the Antichrist will persecute anyone who supports or dares to speak the name of Christ. Technology like video technology, texting and other forms of mobile communication have been used by Christians to spread the Gospel quicker and over greater distances than ever could have been imagined. However, while this technology can be used as a tool for the spread of the Gospel, it doesn’t mean that Satan is just going to sit idly by and do nothing to try to stop the spread of the Gospel. The Antichrist will be able to try to do the same types of things to limit the spread of the Gospel as the Chinese have been doing since the rise of the communist regime, except the Antichrist will be able to do these kinds of things on a global scale.
PRAY: Pray for the faithful believers in China and in other nations experiencing religious persecution. Pray for it to stop. Pray for the Gospel to continue to spread despite persecution.